For many of your residents, meals are the favourite times of the day. They line up in the dining room half an hour early in great anticipation. It is the event to savour!

 

Other residents may struggle with meal time. Some require physical assistance with feeding, and some may need constant cueing and reminders to eat their meal.  For those with advanced dementia, the noise and commotion of the dining room can trigger agitation and make mealtime less successful.  There are so many different needs to meet at every meal and it can be tricky for dietary staff to meet all those needs simultaneously.

 

Some residents may benefit from their own dedicated caregiver during mealtime. 

 

Residents such as Lucy, who often became so agitated at meal times that she wouldn’t eat anything at all.  At a quick glance, it appeared that Lucy just wasn’t hungry for her dinner. But when we sat with Lucy through her meals, we discovered that much of the time, she was confused and wasn’t sure what to eat or how.  It was not because she was not hungry.

 

When we provided Lucy with a dedicated caregiver who sat with her throughout dinner, Lucy suddenly began to thrive!  The caregiver would cue Lucy saying “oh, that roast beef looks delicious, would you like a bite?” and Lucy would smile and take a bite. 

 

A minute later, the caregiver would say “you’re a big fan of mashed potatoes, and look what we have here—your favourite! Mashed potatoes!”  By the end of the dinner hour, Lucy had cleaned her entire plate.  With cueing, direction and constant encouragement, Lucy ate her food and was mostly able to feed herself.  By continuing to cue Lucy and not just take over by feeding her, her own dedicated caregiver promoted Lucy’s remaining abilities and independence.

 

Do you have any residents who would benefit from patient, one-on-one constant cueing and encouragement?  Watch your residents thrive when paired with a Warm Embrace caregiver! 

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